this is what was violated by nsa activities. washington was playing by the laws of the jungle but inside europe's post-modern system. partly this is because the distinction is not easy to maintain. what if you look for terrorists within europe. that is people who still play by the laws of the jungle or even worse. america as a global power is operating all over the world trying to tackle some of the nastiest threats out there. perhaps it doesn't have the luxury to retreat to a garden and renounce nasty tactics. if it did, it's not likely that china, russia, al qaeda would follow suit. precisely because washington has to get its hands dirty, it should be smart about this. you don't stop terrorists in europe by listening in on angela merkel's cell phone. the rewards of spying on friendly heads of government are probably outweighed by the risks. and most troubling, it's not clear that many of these specific activities were clearly thought through and directed by the white house. nor do they appear to have been vetted by congress. i